Once Upon a Bookshelf

Midweek Morsels is a weekly meme hosted by Kristina. Do you have a recipe you’d like to share with us?

SO. Between now and the end of the month, I will be totally preoccupied with Christmas. It’s my most-favourite time of the year, and the time I’m not working or sleeping is completely revolving around the holidays – whether it’s shopping, decorating, watching Christmas movies, listening to Christmas music, or baking delicious Christmas goodies. And I started that this past weekend….. except I’m not sharing that recipe here because what I made, I’m packaging up and giving to friends as part of Christmas gifts… and some of those friends read this blog. Instead, I’m sharing the recipe for what I gave to friends last year.

Ingredients

1 lb light-coloured raisins
1 lb baking gumdrops (not black)
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups sweetened applesauce
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Boil raisins in water for 5 minutes. Drain & cool. In large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat eggs and add to butter/sugar mixture with vanilla and applesauce. Coat raisins and gumdrops with 1 cup of flour. Sift together remaining flour, salt and baking powder and cinnamon, then add to butter/sugar/applesauce mixture. Fold in raisins and gumdrops. Bake in large greased loaf pan/bundt pan at 300F for 2-2.5 hours.

Notes from Courtney

Okay, so. This makes A LOT. Like two 9×3x3 pans. Or six 5×3x2 pans. And it’s a heavy cake (very much like fruit cake, only really awesome). Every few years I make this and give out to friends for Christmas. If, however, you would rather eat it all on your own (which I totally wouldn’t blame you for because it is just THAT GOOD), it freezes great for next year.